NAPSLO urges reintroduction of surplus lines bill

NAPSLO is contacting members of House Financial Services Committee and Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs to urge Congress to enact the surplus lines and reinsurance reform bill introduced in the last Congress. The bill was passed 417-0 last September by the House, but died in the Senate.

In an open letter to members of both Committees, NAPSLO Executive Director Richard Bouhan said NAPSLO’s “top legislative priority in this Congress is the enactment of the ‘Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2006’" (H.R. 5637 in the last session) and that “NAPSLO stands ready to do whatever is necessary to pass that legislation, again, in the House and, hopefully, in the Senate as well.”

Over the past two months, NAPSLO representatives, including Maria Berthoud of B&D Consulting, have met with top staff for House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Ranking Member Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises Chairman Paul Kanjorski (D-Penn.), and most Democratic and Republican members of the Subcommittee to urge the bill’s reintroduction and passage.

Last year H.R. 5637 was introduced by Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.) and Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) and, if approved, would have improved and streamlined the regulation of surplus lines insurance and reinsurance. NAPSLO believes such legislation would simplify the regulation of the excess and surplus lines industry and assist consumers, particularly in the storm ravaged sections of the nation, by making property/casualty insurance coverage more plentiful, Ms. Berthoud said.

The complete press release is available on the NAPSLO website.

NAPSLO objects to South Carolina bulletin

NAPSLO has notified the South Carolina Insurance Department that it objects to S.C. Bulletin 2006-11 because it imposes an unnecessary and significant burden on surplus lines brokers to file a listing of underwriting restrictions for each “surplus lines insurer represented” based upon geography and any changes to those underwriting restrictions as of Dec 31, 2006.

Bulletin 2006-11 states that "an insurer shall provide the director each year a listing of underwriting restrictions based upon geography and also provide notice of new changes to current underwriting restrictions.”

The state statute in question, Section 38-75-1240, does not mention surplus lines. NAPSLO also questions the legality of expanding the scope of a statute through a bulletin issued by the insurance department. NAPSLO believes that the South Carolina legislature intended the 38-75-1240 to apply to surplus lines, it could have specifically said as much, like it did in other situations.

Given the ambiguity surrounding the terms “underwriting restrictions” and “surplus lines company represented,” it is unclear how a surplus lines brokers or companies should respond to this bulletin. Those interested may refer to NAPSLO's letter to the department regarding the bulletin.

Hotel block at Mid-Year Sold Out

The NAPSLO hotel room block at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort in Indian Wells, Calif. for the 2007 NAPSLO Mid-Year Educational Workshop has sold out.

Other hotels in the area that may have rooms include the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort, located across the parking lot from the Esmeralda. A list of other area hotels is available to view.

The Mid-Year Workshop is scheduled for March 1-3 at the Esmeralda. Additional details about the programs is available on the NAPSLO website.